This Visit To Pakistan

Dear Professor Gardezi:

Thanks for sharing your recent experience with us.

Sincerely, Bilal Ahmad

Is a-sort-of guerrilla movement on the horizon in Pakistan?

Re: Hassan Gardezi

I abhor long articles (and replies). But I went through your long article effortlessly. Thank you for the splendid read.

Excellent article as it is, I felt quite depressed after reading it. What is the solution to the menacing encroachment of the ``Islamists`` in Pakistan? Why is it so difficult for them to understand that values of humanism, rationality, secularism, freedom of inquiry and rejection of tradition as the measure of truth are not ``Western`` values. They all are ``human`` values. West just implemented it first.

You ask a very poignant question of your young Pakistani audience: ``What does the future hold for them in Pakistan?``. Not much, I say. That is, as you pointed out, so long as all the ominous and threatening events in Pakistan are ``accepted with therapeutic fatalism`` by the Pakistanis.

I found this article to be very intelligent, objective and yet passionate. I hope you write another one soon, and write often for Chowk. Pakistan needs articles like these on Chowk mainly because, as you put it, ``the situation in Pakistan [is] not conducive.`` It is my true hope that Chowk will make a difference. I`d go as far as saying that Chowk may save Pakistan

Dear Mr Gardezi,

I am confident you made the right and insightful decision to leave Pakistan 35 years ago. You see, there is no place for people like you, who are exceptionally well-eductaed, tolerant, kinnd, and believe in the egalitarian system of values in the Pakistan of today.

Thoroughly enjoyed the narrative, and the frankness of your views.

Sincerely,

Asim

Is there a point lurking somewhere in this article? Aside from some name dropping (I have seen goat droppings that stink less) and aside from something about how the London fog aint the same as Lahore dust, and the author`s air travel that the rest of us bullock cart passengers can gaze at in awe, I fail to see what brother Gardezi is trying to convey.

OK, my previous note was too harsh. There is indeed a point: the increasingly aggressive mullahs (and other thugs), who now know that they will never be elected to power and so seek to take control by force. That is in fact an important point.

dear asim,

there is place in pakistan for everybody, particularly kind, intelligent, tolerant people. to me the most significant bit in the article was how, despite the jangli self-proclaimed holy warriors determined to make people afraid of `them` while yelling themselves hoarse about being afraid of `Allah`, others in pakistan try in their own way to circumvent them and lead some semblance of normal life. sure we`re having trouble, who isn`t? that isn`t a good enough reason to condemn pakistan as `over before it started`. teething pains, that`s what we have. what we need is a leader in the shape of a pacifier, with the resilience of a rubber nipple and the backbone of a woman.

;)) shandana

Mr. Gardezi!

It was a good article.

The only thing to point out is F.R.C.S (Canada) is a real degree.

re: The author

A very good article. Makes me wonder what was the need to create two countries and then keep everything same. The article reminds me of my annual visits to Punjab (on the other side) from UK. Starting from this new phenomenon of ‘fog’ to ‘the deteriorating environment, the civic chaos, the economic and political insecurity, the educational problems of the youngsters, and the ever present threat of sectarian violence, all such afflictions keep cropping up in conversations but accepted with therapeutic fatalism’,

not to mention the all prevailing corruption, inhumanity of blaring loudspeakers from religious ‘shops’ early morning and evening (fortunately not five times a day) without any consideration for the students, the sick or those who need sleep after work etc. etc.

At the same time the very fact that people are discussing these issues and raising the sort of issues mentioned from various meetings, one feels there is hope.

it is indeed intersting to read the articles by expatriate pakistanis about the current state of affairs in pakistan. as a pakistani who has never been outside pakistan i feel that those who had left the country long long time ago should just simply do not critisize on the situation in pakistan. we are living here. want to built a better pakistan. want to play a role to make pakistan a more liberal and tolerant society. we are in the arena. and we are young too.have u ever thought that what will be the impact of such articles in which pakistan`s future is projected a sgloomy will be on the youth of pakisatn. you have left the country.living a prosperous life. but will u not consider yourself a ``Bhagora`` who has prefered to abandon his home in disarray and chosen to live a life in foreign country. your duty is to give us hope. everybody cannot leave pakistan. and why should we leave our country.

lets talk about what should be done.and do something for a better pakistan.but dont simply criticize.

slink #7 ``what we need is a leader in the shape of a pacifier, with the resilience of a rubber nipple and the backbone of a woman.``

The country has Been There, Done That (twice - the First Reign of Queen BB and the Second Reign of Queen BB, not to mention her evil Worse-if-That-is-Possible Half). My vote: PM seems to be sincere. Encourage him to get the recommended backbone and put mullahs where they belong.

Godot #5 ``Why is it so difficult for them to understand that values of humanism, rationality, secularism, freedom of inquiry and rejection of tradition as the measure of truth are not ``Western`` values. They all are ``human`` values. West just implemented it first.``

Actually, these are true religious values too, at least in Islam (anyone who doubts is referred to the Holy Quran). Also true for Hinduism, I am told. Yesterday I attended an hour-long presentation by an Hindu gentleman (a retired person) on the subject of ``Gita and modern life`` (or something like that): he claimed that Hinduism streses the universal brotherhood of man and that Gandhis non-violence had its roots in the teaching of Hinduism.

Too bad our rogues and your rogues (and believe me, India has it`s share of Hindu fanatics too, more solidly entrenched in power although less flashy than the Pakistani variety) dont take their religious books seriously.

RE: Tahmed

``Too bad our rogues and your rogues (and believe me, India has it`s share of Hindu fanatics too, more solidly entrenched in power although less flashy than the Pakistani variety) dont take their religious books seriously.``

Why do we need these comic books at all if they are all misinterpreted and do more harm than good?

``What does the future hold for you?``

I`d chalk this one to - ``generation gap``. Each generation is asked this q and then goes on to rhetorically ask the next

``Chowk may save Pakistan``

getting carried away??!!

wasnt Imran Khan also touted as the ``next`` saviour of Pakistan??

hoep the orginators of Chowk arent planning to head down that road : )

jagdeep #13 ``not to mention the all prevailing corruption, inhumanity of blaring loudspeakers from religious ‘shops’ early morning and evening (fortunately not five times a day) without any consideration for the students, the sick or those who need sleep after work etc. etc.``

I thought only muslims had to put up with a loudspeaker-toting priesthood. Sikhs too, it seems. You have my sympathies.

Masd #9:

[.....we are living here. want to built a better pakistan. want to play a role to make pakistan a more liberal and tolerant society. we are in the arena. and we are young too.have u ever thought that what will be the impact of such articles ....] and [...lets talk about what should be done.and do something for a better pakistan.but dont simply criticize...]

Dear Masd:

and Salman M (who reads but does not inter-act):

Mostly I keep away from these discussions. They are usually a futile effort. Impenetratable, reinforced and immovable lines are already drawn in the mind and on sand that renders any dialogue worthless.

However.......you appear young and by implication perhaps a little more flexible, and a little less rigid.

We do not live in a vacuum. If the betterment of fellow citizens is the core motive then all Pakistanis, those there and the ‘bhagora’ as you unkindly referred to, all of us have to chip in.

Please read and ponder Bilal Ahmed’s articles and the subsequent discussion generated on the interact board. Make notes. See what you can learn and where you and your friends can make a difference.

You would do well to remember nothing is insurmountable. All you need is an ‘open’ questioning mind and a resolve to get things done.
The change will come if each individual thinks and makes an effort. Clean, honest and unbiased.

Take a deep breath or two and look around.

No, not at your parents, your house, CD collection, friends or relations.

Go to a nearby slum. Pick out an eight year old Shakira or Amjad. And focussing on them think hard.

1: Where and how do they survive.?
2: What kind of education they receive?
3: Are they adequately fed or clothed?
4: And most importantly --- is there hope --- HOPE in their future?
5: Can they hope to become a better ‘insaan’?

As you ponder you will come across more troubling questions. And easy answers. If you are wise or skeptical you will learn to immediately ignore the easy answers.

You will often hear that if we get a good leader all our problems will be solved.

What we need is a leader
What we need is a LEADER
What we need is a L E A D E R
What we need is a G O O D L E A D E R
What we need is a R E A L L Y G O O D L E A D E R.

Not so my young friend.

Complex problems do not lend to easy solutions.

I hope you do not misunderstand what I am about to tell you. Not even Muhammed (saw) can solve Pakistan’s problem. Even he needed a core group of dedicated, sincere, upright men around him to carry out his reforms!

To carry out any meaningful reforms in Pakistan you will need:

1: Willingness and ability to produce results.
2: Planning.
3: Material resources.
4: The backing of some force behind you. (Think hard: and hopefully you will discard the force of the bullet or the blind faith in this endeavour.)
5: And the integral help of social institutions. (Law --- upholding: Impartial Judiciary. Law enforcement: Responsible Police. Impartial and Efficient Civic Administration etc.)

There are other tell tale signs. You will have to:

---Sign extradition treaties with other nations, so those who manage to run away can be brought back to face justice.
---introduce laws to seize assets of absconders, loan defaulters, traffickers.
---ban possession of guns and drugs and preaching of hatred against any citizen from any pulpit, minaret, town square, radio or television station or print media.
---introduce capital punishment for gun control, women and children abuse and drug trafficking.
---reform local Police. Drop FIR and streamline mandatory complaint process.
---reform tax collection and distribution, give tax credit for Zakat.
---guarantee complete freedom of expression.
---institute meaningful land re-distribution.
---renewed dedication for social evolution.
---deep freeze nuclear program in exchange for debt relief and international guarantees for territorial integrity. And most importantly for immediate survival
---de-link Kashmir for the next 20 years. Seek better relations with immediate neighbors.

Now, this is serious. Can this be done under existing conditions?

Our leaders tell us yes. Truth and Reality scoffs at their assertions.

Tell me of one institution that you will cling to as a prop to cleanse the others and attempt to even the keel of State’s ship from among the following:

Army?
Beaurecracy?
Feudal/Military Raj?
Religious Mullahcracy?
Ethnic Warlords?

Remember, I asked you for ONE institution that is intact, unaligned and with integrity.

I apologise for asking too many questions.

regards,

temporal

PS: Bilal, I will appreciate if you let the young ones debate this over. I will invite you to express your views later:)

PPS: Hassan, welcome to Chowk. Please keep contributing.

Re: Slink

Hi Shandana,

I apologise for sounding too pessimistic. I am as ever in awe of people who have been able to uproot their settled lives over ``her`` to go back ``there``, knowing too well the gradually retrogressive nature of our society. I am worried like the professor, as to where and how can I fit in within Pakistani society once i go back from here. That it is indeed comforting to know that one made the right decision to come out from that nation of misogyny, ignorance, and poverty.

For, I do not have hundreds of acres to my name over there, nor do I have the plethora of contacts/resources to be able to start a venture firm, which is what i want to do eventually. Till such time, I can accrue the resources, and in a ``halal`` manner, I think I owe it to myself to be abroad, though with a goal. I dont want to be a perpetual expatriate, not that being one in several continents has not helped me to better understand the psyche of the human nature, not to mention the fact that people are the same everywhere.

You are absolutely right, it takes a certain resilience and character to be able to take all that the govt of Pakistan(inclusive of the current ``regime``) and its sidekicks the dreaded ``theocracy`` chucks at one. I dont think i have what it takes to standby and see people being labelled heretics, and sent to the gallows for printing a granted ``thoughtless`` letter. That is indeed lamantable.

Hindutva politics is no different from the bearded politics we have in Pakistan. Besides not hailing from feudal family, has its sheer disadvantages when trying to confront any wrongdoings. Not that feudals ever bother to check the wrongdoings in the first place. They are however good for, taking us all the gulliblke junta for a ride, with their fancy english, and their ``bought for`` western education at Oxford and the Harvards of the western world, in a bid to continue to rulke on the insecurities of little people like us. The only way forward for middle class people like me is to harness our intelligence, and apply it through effective scholarship (granted due to the philanthrophy of the US, the same US our bearded folks want to migrate to, given half a chance, wand whose flag they love to desecrate and burn), to make a future. To become the so called ``nouveau-riche`` with wealth comparable to those of the so called ``old-wealth``, and then go back and implement a fairer system, crushiung the feudals, just be the sheer numbers of such people, and by bringing a semblance of order.

Tall dreams indeed. One has to dream big to achieve something bigger.

Sincerely,

Asim

RSaxena #15 ``Why do we need these comic books at all if they are all misinterpreted and do more harm than good?``

Excellent question. If people actually tried to read these books the way they were intended, i.e. with understanding, these books would do plenty of good: they would provide the moral compass that is the basis for a strong character. The middle class of Pakistan (I cant speak for India) instinctively knows what is right and wrong but denies itself the moral compass (since it either ignores it, or reads it without understanding) that would reassure them that on certain key values: the importance of science and learning, of respect for all faiths, honesty, keeping one`s word, staying away from judging other peope. The religious fanatics are probably too far gone to benefit from this moral compass, but would at least their pretense of having any basis in Islam for their views would be exposed. I assume the same would apply to India (and the folks who blew up and celebrated the A-bomb in India and are now spending badly needed resources trying to build an army to fight World War I are no less fanatical than the thugs who roam around Pakistan with guns).

As the kid says in the movie to the pirate Captain Hook: these guys badly need a mommy (or better yet, a fear of God) to teach them right from wrong.

According to yesterday`s Wall Street Journal, this is what Iran, who should be among Pakistan`s best friends, had to say about Pakistan:

``The U.S. says [Iran] must be able to discuss allegations of Iran`s links to terrorism and supposed attempts to build weapons of mass destruction. Iran finds this offensive. It notes that neighboring Pakistan has relations with the U.S. even though [Pakistan] has tested a nuclear bomb, has a military regime, is cozy with the even more fundamentalist Taliban in Afghanistan and harbors Islamist insurgents operating against India in Kashmir.``

Time for the Pakistan policy makers to wake up and smell the coffee.

temporal #17 ``PS: Bilal, I will appreciate if you let the young ones debate this over. I will invite you to express your views later:)``

In one sentence you provided an example of two other problems we have in Pakistan: (a) a arrogant belief in one`s own wisdom; (b) plain old rudeness.

In response to Masd (Reply # 9)
Masad:

Both I and Professor come a generation where young people were not encouraged (or allowed) to speak their minds. Both us belong to a small category of our generation who not only allow but encourage our young friends to be sound and critical in their outlook.

Your use of the word ``Bhagora`` reflects the kind of malaise that we criticize. In my view, most Pakistani critics of Pakistan are very brave people. Bhogora also reminds me of a nephew of mine who once wrote to me that all expatriate Pakistanis are actually ``cowards``. He also informed me that he and his generation will bring a change in Pakistan. I wished him well, and asked: What is so different in your generation that will enable you to do what we failed to do? He did not provide an answer, let alone a barely satisfactory answer.

Professor Gardezi is a highly respected scholar. I suggest you to read once of his relatively recent article: Gardezi, Hasan (1998). The Failure of Capitalism in Pakistan. Journal of Contemporary Asia, Vol 28, No. 3, pp. 310-26. If you can`t find the article, please send me an e-mail and I will send you a copy. Then, we may engage in a friendly debate over the contents of his article.

Sincerely, Bilal Ahmad

In response to tahmed (Reply # 22)
Dear Ahmed:

I don`t really know why temporal wrote what he did. I have been participating on the Chowk as a Chowkwalla only (and all Chowkwallas have a right to express their views freely, equally, and fearlessly).

Perhaps the best course of action will be to focus on what temporal actually wants us to discuss and accomplish.

Sincerely, Bilal Ahmad

Dear Mr. Gardezi:

Your memoir was very engaging and educating! You have captured a lot in this piece. There are a few passages where you`ve addressed very interesting topics; staring with the following as it beautifully highlights the cultural aspects, and addresses the surrounding upheavals.

I)
------
Yet, once you get into personal interaction with relatives and friends, the old vignettes and virtues of Multan also begin to surface, mixed indeed with new anxieties and apprehensions.
The complaints and affections of the sisters in softly flowing siraiki idiom, the traditional foods, the exquisite handicrafts, the folklore, the childhood stories remind you that this is pretty much the same Multan that you left long time ago. The deteriorating environment, the civic chaos, the economic and political insecurity, the educational problems of the youngsters, and the ever present threat of sectarian violence, all such afflictions keep cropping up in conversations but accepted with therapeutic fatalism.
-------
Three long, but informative sentences taking a snapshot of everything in Multan.

Having a few friends from Multan during my F.Sc. years; I`d always requested them to get me: the nice and well-cut golden-til`lae-vali embroidered chappals; colored woven jewelery[I have never ever came across something so exquisite made of simple threads]; and shadow work dupattas in light summer shades. This particular passage reminded me of all those ethnic specialities of Multan. Beautiful!

``The complaints and affections of the sisters in softly flowing siraiki idiom``

The above was very sweet! Can you/anyone else please give some examples of siraiki idioms? I am not sure if you are reading the interacts; if you`re, that will be appreciated.

Thanks for a great read!

Continued..

Gardezi`s article appears to be more of an attempt to Expunge the Guilt of his `faithless act` of Abandoning his country and emigrating to Canada than a Compassionate assessment of Homeland Revisited.

His has been a `Journey into Disillusionment`, and he has told us why. He is nostalgic about his old hometown Multan and is upset that it`s so tough to recognise once familiar landmarks. Nevertheless, he is not too unhappy to leave, and is relieved that Leaving is now being considered `the right thing` to do. Here he betrays an expatriate`s continued need for justification of his unconscionable act of abandoning his country and making his escape to `a new social consciousness`.

Obviously, Gardezi`s new social consciousness, does not include taking the necessary pains to `translate` his concerns about Pakistan into any `effective plan of action`. Instead he has taken pains to explain why `no modern science can flourish outside it`s social context-the ideological and intellectual environment, the dominant value system and the class power structure`. I wonder how he would explain the cases of Copernicus, Galileo or even Darwin? The two most significant discoveries of all times, the heliocentric description of our galaxy, and the Theory of Evolution, did not quite happen in Conducive social circumstances. Yet Gardezi prefers to Blame the Context and refuses to acknowledge the role that scientists and social thinker`s have played in lifting societies from the quagmires of ignorance. What is revealed here is a social scientist`s Denial of his own Responsibilities towards his society.

Nonetheless, Gardezi also reveals himself to be an expatriate with a conscience. He is rendered `speechless` when he confronts the students before him, `so young, so quiet and so wide-eyed`. And his anguish is perhaps real when he describes himself as a `long-lost expatriate`. It is hard to Deprive young Innocents of Hope, it is hard to Demoralize ardent Hearts and to tell them that they have No Future here.

But Gardezi manages to skirt the skirmish with his soul. And instead of losing sleep over the pitiful regression that he had just witnessed of his homeland, he winds a `sleepy way` back to Canada and looks forward to the anticipated rest at the `cosy London home` of his friend. Gardezi has just managed to `FOG` his own sensitivities.

Masd #

To some extent I agree with you.

Not regarding the expatriate Pakistanis. They had done their fair share while in Pakistan and fought in their own way for a better future. And each expatriate migrated out of their circumstances. As Asim has put it succintly.

For example I try to do my best with the people living around me. Whether I was in Pakistan or here.

May be while in Pakistan I actively participated against tyranny and for democracy and better future for people in my age of emotionalism or young age.

Our generation failed or not failed will be decided in future. But General Zia ruled like dictator for 11 years but in the end died a death of bad name. Now Military regime is itself saying that it will continue democracy.

Our time is over and only experience is left.

If you want to learn, learn. If not who is going to force you.

The primary importance is investment on human and how you can achieve that.

Have you heard the Hadith that ``A Momin is not bitten by the same hole twice`` I fully agree. ``A Momin is bitten by different holes on different times``.

Lets see how you want to take your destiny in your hand. Through CD`s, watching movies and criticizing other people or take active part in politics to invest in humans.

As this is my first post at chowk.com, please allow me to introduce myself, before I offer any words that may trigger a barrage of critical analysis that the words aren`t even worthy of.

My name is Yasser Munir Pervaiz, an 18 year old student, born in Saudi Arabia, living in Canada since 1992, and just beginning to become aware of the Pakistan that has, to this point, been bandaged over by many a shaadi, daawat, or picnic at hawkes bay.

Now, with all formalities aside, my views. With an emphasis on `my`.

In response to temporal`s post, regarding what must happen in order for meaningful reforms to happen in Pakistan, I feel that he was on the right track, until the issue came back, full-circle, to the notion of policy changes and authoritative reform.

I feel that the primary concerns of the Pakistani government, and the Pakistani people, should be as follows:

1) Educate the people. Not necessarily maths and language skills, for we all know that the Pakistani standards in these subjects already exceed many of the standards of the western world, but skills that will assist them in in making their lives better. What are their rights? Who can they ask for help? Where can they find help? Is there help? And more, if not most, importantly - how to VOTE!

2) Shelter the people. Avoid the heavy spending on playing ``who`s got bigger - ahem -`` with India, and use the money to take care of your people. Billions of dollars can be spent on a bomb, yet millions of people are forced to live in the streets, slums, and gutters. Do the math and you`ll see that it doesn`t add up.

3) Feed the people. Ok, if that`s too hard, how about this: just give them some clean water. I read somewhere that contaminated water is the cause for over 90% of the deaths in Pakistani children. Maybe a centre in every village, shanty-town, etc. that provides clean water to each person. Maybe a better drainage system?

Those, my future friends (hopefully), are my views on what the primary concerns of the nation should be. Let`s keep them alive, then we`ll figure out how to stop them from being beaten, we`ll get the innocent ones out of jail, we`ll put the guilty ones in their place, train better cops, choose better leaders, etc. etc. etc. and so forth.

Thank you for not clicking `back`,

Yasser Munir

PS - I apologize for any repetition or similarities that this post may have to any other previous posts, for I have not read very many.

Thanks again.

Most Sikh temples do have loudspeakeres on roof tops particularly in the rural areas. Most Hindu temples in India also have loudspeakers singing away ``jai jagdish hare``. Although most of these speakers play recorded hyms etc quite musically....may be a bit less intrusive than mullahs live lalkaars.

I might have mentioned it before on Chowk, so please excuse me if it sounds repetitive..My native village is right on Indo-Pak border. The two villages on each side of the border are separated by 1 mile of low lying paddy and wheat fields. Even more interestingly the mosque in Pakistani village is on the Indian side(South/East of village) while our Gurdawara is on the Pakistani edge(North/West) of our village. Early in the morning Mullah ji and Bhai sahib turn the speakers on at full blast...Bhai ji usually earlier than Mullah ji..sounds of Nanak`s hyms and Mullah`s azaan can be heard on both sides, particularly during winter months when air is thick and foggy and make a very interesting musical collage...I kind of miss it now:-(

Mullah ji usually shuts up after few minutes...but Bhai ji cranks up his gramophone and keeps playing the records untill quite late in the morning.

It is known that Mullah and Bhai`s speakers were used for passing encrypted messages by some smugglers during the prosperous and friendly 70/80`s of Gen Zia:)

DullaBhatti

I have read HGurdezi in depth, and MASD`s reaction to this travelogue(?). I think I`ll side with the latter reaction, despite Gd`s engaging, every so often colourfully strobed, expressions, and maybe a touch of nostalgia; a nostalgia which has now woefully become a hallmark of the expats to which they are doomed, for as long as they live abroad. This is because, it is a ``till death do us part`` relationship.

The reactions, in all 28 posts, of the rest, now few but hooked on the Chowk by the afeem of the self-proclaimed, better-than-the-ones-who-stayed-back-there Lal bhujhkkads, are disappointing as usual.

In denial, sels-serving, apologistic, self-appeasing, propitiating and lacking miserably in even a modicum of brilliant analysis, these L.Bs think that by repetitively and untiringly adduceing tiring, and malodorous cliches, they can absolve themselves of the ultimate social sin of having `runned away` from their own country; a country which, if they had the minimum of intelligence to pass as normal, would not have been as it is today had they still been here, and showed commitmentment and dedication to it.

Now, when they come back, they talk about the alienation they felt at the hands of their home country. In fact it was their self-first [me,me,me,me?] comfort-first attitude which alienated them.

Give us, ``The Children of a Lesser God``, a break!

re:tahmed321, tibor

Yes sikhs and hindus both have loudspeakers. And in cities where both could be situated near to each other they compete by upping the volume as if to attract more and more customers. That is why I wrote `religious shops`.

By the way whydid you assume that I was writing about sikhs and not hindus? Both the communities exist in east punjab in almost equal numbers.

To Tibor: You think sikhs do not have loud speakers outside the gurdwaras makes me assume that you have never lived in punjab.

DullaBhatti #29:

I enjoyed your last post so much! The description of the maulvi and granthi competing with each other...the sound of the calls to worship floating across the paddy fields to awaken the ``other`s`` across the border, the namaaz and shabaad being blared out of the loudspeakers... the cacophany of the colliding prayers.... the words and call to God being used to co-ordinate un-Godly smuggling.... you really conjured up some wonderful imagery, and it is deeply laden with irony....(that slightly absurd, slightly farcical tone...the interzone, the border, where does one begin and one end.... it seems more like a precis of a short story written by Manto).

It is poignant and absurd, ironic and amusing. Thanks for sharing it with us sir :-)

As an aside, and at the risk of offending, my friend directed me to ``The Friday Times`` today...and I just wanna say to Shandana...

you look sooooo cute in that black & white photograph!

[no wonder urstruly dislikes you slink.... shooting from the hip indeed! :-) ]

regards

Harpreet

Re DullaBhatti #: 29

Didn`t the Khalistanis demand that Amritsar be declared a Holy City, smoking should be banned there and the Sikhs should have their own TV channel?

Now that you have Punjabi language channels available in most major cities, why is it that instead of Daler Mehndi we get Granth Sahib readings? Man, you guys have got a little bit of the mullah inside you.

Look at all those channels that show mainstream stuff (like in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Bengali, etc.) You get movies, plays, song-and-dance sequences, etc. You got to go to the Gujarati channel to get religious programs dominating the discourse.

I say, let us hand over Gujarat and Punjab to Pakistan!

PS. For those who are humor-impaired (which is to say, all Indians) this was written tongue-in-cheek.

Hello everybody! I have been lurking here at Chowk for a while. I came across this letter in todays Friday Times. I think it is extraordinary in that it shows how deeply entrenched the Pakistani mindset has become with communalist feeling, how commonplace and casual it is. Never mind the comical pomposity of this gentleman who honestly believes he is making a genuinely insightful point.

``Sir,

While watching television some days ago, my attention was caught by a scene from ``Hum Dil Dey Chuke Sanam``. Having overeaten, the hero moves to his rooftop. Thinking he is by himself, he lets out a loud fart. Aashwariya Rai, who has been lurking nearby, laughs and mumbles something about a gust of breeze (hawa ka jhonka). Some breeze! She then runs downstairs to confide the incident to the scores of ladies present, who all giggle in merriment.

Even the most innovative directors in Hollywood only allow their characters to burp. It took a Hindu to make commercial art, not to mention the starting point of a romance, out of farting.

Aftab Saeed, Lahore. ``

We have our problems as Pakistanis for sure, but is this what we are reduced to? How the world must quake in its boots! Gaining small comfort in such things and describing it as ipso-facto causally related to the director being a Hindu! The crudity of his reasoning being of course more crude than that of which he complains! The ironies pile on! He is nothing more than an expulsion himself!

I say to Aftab Saeed, it took a Hindu director to make commercial art out of farting, but it took a Muslim nation to create such a fart as you!

Thank you for listening to my diatribe patrons. I shall hopefully return with more scenes of buffonery in the near future.

Masd #9 I agree that for someone to sit outside Pakistan and to complain about everything that is wrong in Pakistan is wrong. The worse, in my view, are those who sit outside and exacerbate problems for the poor people of Pakistan (the politicians sitting in London and other places, the armchair warriors sitting at a safe distance). However, many expatriate Pakistanis do something as well for Pakistan as well, consciously (by contributing to charities) or consciously without meaning to (increasing the demand for goods and services in the economy, increasing the flow of ideas, and so on). You have a great attitude, and it was very nice to read your post.

re aneequa@dr.com #30:

Please save the bile for the aloo-parathas..........

Most Pakistani expatriates have suffered extreme hardships to get to where they are. Their sermonising has to be seen in the proper context. Most immigrants(save for the MBBS hordes) till about 8-10 years ago were people with no prospects in their countries of birth. They(and their progeny) were looked upon with amusement in their home countries. The expatriates also suffered from an inferiority complex driven by a sense of abandonment and guilt at leaving their near and dear ones behind and the growing chasm they felt between their mores and the younger generation`s they were raising away from the motherland.

Things have changed now. Save for a few recalcitrant hotheads here and there, there is a mad rush for the exits(read US,Canada etc.). The expatriates find in this phenomenon a validation of in many cases the most painful decision of their lives. Missing the Eids, the weddings and the aqeeqas all seem worthwhile when they consider how much better off they are materially compared to the homies. They feel justified in offering advice to the ones that can`t get away because they`ve survived the loss of their identity and succeeeded in cultures far-removed from the realm of most Paksitanis. Whether that advice is objective or not can be debated to no end.

Personally I think the self-sanctimonious expatriates should not act as if they know the remedies to what ails their country. The last people you want to add to the mess are doctors with atrocious accents trying Mard-i-momin stunts. Pakistan`s solutions lie within its borders not outside. And as you and Shandana pointed out(in not so many kind words I might add) staying within the system and fighting it with all its regressive tendencies takes guts. I don`t for a minute doubt the extraordinary resiliency of the common Pakistani in the face of a fascist onslaught by the establishment and the mullah. Maybe there is still hope.

later

-sac

Tahmed:[ post # ?]

``Is there a point lurking somewhere in this article? Aside from some name dropping (I have s...``

I totally disagree with you. To me; it`s a memoir [A travelogue(?) - I am not so sure]. When a person is writing his experiences; he will write them as the thoughts flow and whatever he went through -- regardless of his meeting with Dalai Lama or a cup of tea with a truck driver. Why should he replace someone`s name for XYZ? It`s a self-assured outlook than an arrogant one. In fact, his style reminds me of many professors I had during my undergrad years in Pakistan - who went abroad for their Ph.ds, taught there for a few years and then came back. Some had a very hard time adjusting and some left for finer pastures. Why do people react so negatively when an expatriate expresses his observations? Not that I don`t have the answer, but it is amusing to see the over-reaction. That itself; is an issue.

I also feel that it was an educating piece - a break from the usual bukvaas[excuse my true feelings]that you find quite often posted on chowk by the regular contributors. On the contrary, there was some substance here. Well, that`s a personal opinion!

Take Care

THE FOUR POINT LIBERAL AGENDA

Since author is trying to push an agenda through this article, therefore, it is correct to assume that it was written with the sole intent as such. There is nothing new to it. It is the usual droning wails of the Commie type, which we have been hearing for the past 55 years. It is interesting to note that the Commies when turned into pseudo-liberals when Soviet Union imploded, they kept on promoting their anti-Pakistan, anti-Islam agenda as usual. It is pathetic to see that these very people (liberals) who think themselves as the beacon of enlightenment and consider everyone other than themselves as direct-from-caves have never been able to come up with a working model of their ideals in the past 55 years. They have no connection with common men and women, aka sweaty bi-peds whatsoever. Some of them who have baptized themselves into Capitalism and know how to make money from their ``enlightenment`` have opened their businesses as NGOs. Even Capitalism has not been able to cure their myopia. These champions of human rights are blind to see the dead, dying, and raped Kashmiris. They have never seen Afghan refugees dying from hunger, disease, and cold- a living proof of the indifference and hate of their former as well as current masters towards us. They are in common consensus with each other on the following four points though:

1. To strip Pakistan of its Nuclear capability-thus render it helpless against Indian aggression

2. To end the Jihad in Kashmir-while ignoring the acts of genocide committed by India

3. To reduce the defense budget to an extent where Pakistan is left with no option other than becoming an Indian satellite

4. To deteriorate the relationship with Afghanistan – thus making its Western front vulnerable again which means Pakistan Army is sandwiched between two hostile countries again.

Lets try to understand the phenomenon of Liberalism in Pakistan and try to understand the modus-operandi of the people who call themselves Liberals:

Usually “true” liberal and progressive thinking is considered the cornerstone of a civilization because in my opinion it is always a step ahead from the conventional and conservative thinking. In a sense conservative thinking is also progressive. The difference usually is considered in maintaining the established norms. While conservatives want to progress by maintaining the established norms, liberals try to progress by breaking them, sometimes at the cost of even re-inventing the wheel. We can observe this phenomenon at work here in the West. The common thing between a Conservative and a Liberal in West is the progress, the difference is in the method.

As opposed to West:

In Pakistan, the progressives and liberals have always exhibited a behavior, which is not only morally repugnant but at times it has come closer to treason. If we analyze the behavior of liberals in post partition and pre 60s years they actually had been trying to undo Pakistan by consorting with Indians. The writers and poets from that era did write what may be classified as something negating partition. While the rest of the nation was struggling hard to stand up on its feet they were trying to discourage and consort with enemy who were hell bent on negating the partition. The Pakistani nation lost their faith in liberals then. The Rawalpindi Conspiracy Case was the first nail in the coffin.

We may ignore the hobnobbing of liberals with Communists in the 60s. Lets give them a benefit of doubt that at least by then they were not participating in negating the partition. The anticommunist stance of GOP adds to this benefit of doubt. But when Russians were openly seen supporting Indians during the creation of Bangladesh in 1971 and subsequent years the liberals were again perceived as a threat to national security. The Russian aggression on Afghanistan was the final nail in the coffin. Just imagine Russians as being the traditional allies of Indians sitting just miles away from the border whereas Indians who had just committed an act of naked aggression against Pakistan by violating all International laws and helped separatists (most of them liberals again) divide the country into half-what do you think the Pakistanis should make out of liberals. Has any liberal ever thought of a scenario in which Russian Army enters Peshawar whereas Indians penetrating deep into Bahawalpur sector? And trust me folks this is not the figment of my imagination-it actually was about to happen in 1984 when Zia played the Cricket Diplomacy. For reference please check ‘War on Top of the World’ by Eric E. Margolis. Even then liberals were found pimping for Russians. Do they have any shame? Pakistan was at the brink of destruction during those 10 years.

It doesn’t end here. While Kashmiris are fighting a life or death war against cowardly Indians, we find these very liberal pimping for Indians this time. It disgusts me to see that they turn a blind eye to the atrocities and acts of genocide committed by Indians against their own citizens. They (liberals) have this shameless and arrogant audacity to blame the suffering of Kashmiris on themselves and Pakistan.

Their shamelessness has no limits. Has anyone noticed how all the web sites on Afghanistan have disappeared in the last two years? The Time and Life, the BBC and NBC, the CNN and ABC show no news of Afghanistan anymore. They don’t show how ruthlessly Russians have brought the whole civilization at the brink of extinction. They don’t show how each and every inch of Afghan land is still infested with land mines and its is practically rendered useless for agriculture. They don’t show one-legged 5 year Afghani children running after a football in a camp in Pakistan no more. They don’t show how it breaks one’s heart to see a 3 year old Afghan trying to grab a glass of watery milk with one hand because a landmine took his mother and half of his body away. These shameless champions of humanity relentlessly blame the misery of Afghanis on them.
My question to these shameless alleged Pakistani liberals is that what would it take to think like Pakistani first and then anything else. Why they have such a low self-esteem that they need approval from foreigners for even the shittiest piece of literature they write. They show complete lack of confidence in their own intelligence. Even the theories on such empirical subjects as democracy and system of government has to qualify the standards set by someone else.
Worst of all they talk relentlessly against the dearest ideal of all Pakistanis- the religion. They don’t just talk they take pride in insulting it. That is considered vogue and intellectualism.
Could someone please tell me one good reason why I should trust the future of my country and the coming generations with liberals?

From the current Friday Times. Since they don`t archive, I am reproducing the article here.

________________________________________________

A rebuttal of the liberals


Khaled Ahmed`s


A n a l y s i s










Liberal victim Mehmood


Non-liberal Haqqani

In Pakistan, the word `liberal` has been taken by Urdu into the realm of `haram`. `Liberal` parents allow their daughters to go out at night and mix with men freely. `Liberals` tend to look at India with favour, start talking about human rights when patriotism requires shutting up, and obey the fiats of the `liberal` West rather than their own homeland. In one kind of Urdu discourse, `liberal` is another name for `traitor`. The PML may be viscerally conservative but some members on its fringes can be called liberal; the same is true of the PPP where the rank and file is far more right-wing than its founders intended. `Liberalism` is definitely an attitude, not a creed. One would not be surprised if certain Jang columnists who sometimes castigate Mr Haqqani for his views thought him a `liberal` among Urdu journalists. Everybody`s somebody`s liberal.






My revered senior colleague Mr Irshad Haqqani has written another path-breaking column on 3 February 2001 in daily Jang. The theme was: the liberals exaggerate the effect of religious extremism to predict Talibanisation in Pakistan. The `liberal` directly addressed by him was ex-senator Shafqat Mehmood, his colleague in the last caretaker government, who had erred in his column in The News earlier by expressing concern about the growing religious extremism and its potential to overthrow the current political system. Mr Haqqani did two things simultaneously in his column: he put at rest the general scare the ulema had spread about their `revolutionary` take-over, and skewered the so-called `liberal` in Pakistan for spreading false alarm.


Mr Haqqani begins by decrying the trend of intolerance popularised by a small minority of extremists in violation of the Quranic text in Sura al-Kafiroon which recommends the Muslims the formula of: `unto you is sufficient your religion and unto me mine`. He says that despite the reversals the religious parties had suffered in all elections since 1970, the `liberal` elements in Pakistan have started complaining about Islamic fundamentalism, mostly under the influence of propaganda prepared against Pakistan in the West. Now the `liberals` were busy demonising the Taliban and predicting the Talibanisation of Pakistan. On the other hand, Islamic movements had a way of becoming moderate after reaching a certain level of intensity, as happened in Iran and is bound to happen in Afghanistan.


Mr Haqqani agrees that there was some justification in becoming worried about sectarian terrorism and general religious extremism in Pakistan, but it was sheer alarmism to say that the `blood-thirsty mullah` was about to capture the government in Islamabad. According to him, Pakistani society was altogether of a `different sort` and would not succumb to Talibanisation `after the Taliban have completed their conquest of Afghanistan`. In fact, Pakistan was a `cosmopolitan` society and will remain `cosmopolitan` and will never allow the religious fanatics to take over even if the latter become stronger than at present.


In his next column ( Jang 9 February 2001) Mr Haqqani quotes General Musharraf that the percentage of extremists in Pakistan was not more than one percent. He rebuts the `liberal exaggeration` that after the jehadi outfits are done with Kashmir they will turn upon Pakistan and establish control over it in tandem with the Taliban extremists from the West. He tries to explain the fehm-e-din (general understanding of religion) in Pakistan through examples of popular faith and by pointing to a `very large number` of `aware` (ba-shaoor), `alert` (hoshmand), `liberal` and `those who grasp the real spirit of religion` and understand the message of tolerance contained in Sura al-Kafiroon, a clearly `liberal` verse. He then estimates that the total number of such `enlightened` people should be over ten million. On the other hand, the extremists in Pakistan were one percent; and if you took only those who were violent in addition to being extremist, you may arrive at the minuscule figure of one-tenth of one percent!


In his third column on 11 February, Mr Haqqani noted the feedback on his `rebuttal of the liberals`. He was pleasantly surprised that a well-regarded community of thinking people were equally unimpressed by the liberals` alarmism on Talibanisation. Lieutenant-General Khalid Maqbool, head of NAB but formerly Corps Commander, rang up to say that he followed his columns closely but the column on the `rebuttal of the liberals` was so truthful that he had to convey his appreciation personally. The general agreed that the liberals were wrong in their assessment and damaging to Pakistan in so far as they had spread the word abroad and created a wrong impression about the country.


After the general`s phone call, ex-information minister of the PML Syed Mushahid Hussain rang up to say how accurate Mr Haqqani`s reading was of Pakistani society. He agreed that the Pakistanis were fundamentalist and liberal at the same time. He was followed by Governor State Bank Dr Ishrat Hussain who was much perturbed by the false picture of Pakistan as a Talibanising state painted by the liberals. He was interested in getting more and more people to write and say that Pakistan was not about to become a religious-extremist state.


Mr Haqqani`s view that all was well with Pakistan was thus accepted by people worried about its international image. One can`t say how ex-senator Shafqat Mehmood really felt about the `job` done on him as a `liberal`, indirectly accused of relying on Western propaganda to paint an inaccurate picture of his motherland. We don`t know whether he was comforted by the calculation offered by Mr Haqqani that as against one-tenth of one percent of violent Islamist extremists, the likes of Shafqat Mehmood were among at least over ten million in Pakistan. Clearly, Mr Haqqani allowed the `liberals` who spread lethal foreign-fed disinformation about Pakistan a niche within the ten million who will save Pakistan from being Talibanised. Would Shafqat Mehmood rejoice over the fact that in fact he was counted among Pakistan`s saviours?


Mr Haqqani`s columns have forced all of us scribes of the lesser vehicle to concentrate the mind on why so much alarmism is in the air. The job of a thinker is to stimulate the thinking process. By that yardstick, he has served the cause of journalism well. One thought that Mr Haqqani must pay heed to is this: despite the fact that English journalism notoriously provides safe haven to `liberal` writers, it is the pages of the Urdu press, containing extremely violent statements from the religious extremists, that intimidates the citizen on a daily basis. Maybe the non-liberal doesn`t get intimidated by the `statement journalism` of the Urdu press.


In Pakistan, the word `liberal` has been taken by Urdu into the realm of `haram`. `Liberal` parents allow their daughters to go out at night and mix with men freely. `Liberals` tend to look at India with favour, start talking about human rights when patriotism requires shutting up, and obey the fiats of the `liberal` West rather than their own homeland. In one kind of Urdu discourse, `liberal` is another name for `traitor`. The PML may be viscerally conservative but some members on its fringes can be called liberal; the same is true of the PPP where the rank and file is far more right-wing than its founders intended. `Liberalism` is definitely an attitude, not a creed. One would not be surprised if certain Jang columnists who sometimes castigate Mr Haqqani for his views thought him a `liberal` among Urdu journalists. Everybody`s somebody`s liberal.


`Cosmopolitan` was once a negative label with the Left revolutionaries. The cosmopolitans owed allegiance to no one; they formed an international elite, untouched by the revolutionary fervour of the masses. The Gujerati communities of Ismailis, Bohras, Memons and Parsis were once regarded as the `cosmopolitan` fifth column of the British raj by the All-India Congress. Can this class save Pakistan from the so-called Talibanisation of Pakistan? If India and Iran and the pre-Revolution Russia are any examples to go by, this section of society actually did not fight the extremists; in fact its international status made it easy for it to flee the country and leave the intellectual space to the extremists.


One cannot gainsay Mr Haqqani`s observation that the extremists are few in number. We know from the French Revolution that a majority of the moderates was defeated by the extremist minority through use of violence; we know that the bolsheviks were actually in minority and that they had to assault and capture a Duma in which they had failed to win a majority. In Iran, the majority following was with the left-wing mujahideen-e-khalq, till the clergy took over the Revolution because of its more extreme view. The Iranian cosmopolitan elite lost no time in fleeing the Revolution. The lesson that both Iran and Afghanistan have tilted to moderation after an initial period of extremism brings no solace to us. It simply means that we have to go through a sanguinary first phase to qualify for the second phase.


If you look at the Urdu press you will find that it is not the ten million cosmopolitan-liberal-enlightened society which finds expression on its pages. Mr Haqqani presides over a page where opinion expressed is mostly of the non-liberal variety, but the content is still extremely alarmist. One columnist who accompanied religion minister Mehmood Ghazi to parleys with Maulana Akram Awan in Manara actually delivered a veiled threat in his column to the beleaguered government in Islamabad. Anyone concerned in Jang about `liberal alarmism` should have `balanced` this `threat` but there was apparently no will to do so.


One reason why a general, a politician and an economist expressed relief over Mr Haqqani`s `rebuttal` was that this kind of `news` was not available elsewhere in the Urdu press. The press publishes inflammatory statements from the Islamists of all stripes and it is very easy to glean from it a sense of impending doom. No one among these voices of `revolution` says that they will not take over the state because its society is cosmopolitan. In these circumstances, is it not a bit unfair to vent one`s spleen on the presumed `liberal`? The truth of the matter is that all of us are worried about what might happen to Pakistan.


The fact is that Pakistanis are not only not investing in Pakistan they are also sending their sons abroad together with their money. One can rebut the argument, as done by Mr Haqqani, that this exodus is triggered by fear of Talibanisation, but it is equally untenable to insist that it is caused by something other than Talibanisation, since no scientific sampling exists to determine the case either way. The observation made by Shafqat Mehmood about this exodus was of the same category as Mr Haqqani`s own about the composition of the ten million `cosmopolitan` elite which would save Pakistan. Perhaps, when the two observations are compared in detail, Shafqat Mehmood`s is more tenable than Mr Haqqani`s.

ahmadb #24:

I thank you. Your considerable interest and promptness in the subject is known to all of us. That is why in that post script I requested you to merely hold off and let the young Pakistanis express their views. Ofcourse, everyone, has complete freedom to express their ideas within bounds of decency.


tahmed321 #22:
Disagree.
tahmed321 #32:
Agree.


Zahra #25 and #38:
Agree.


YasserM #28: Aneequa@dr.com #30: salmangorsi #31:

Welcome to Chowk. I hope you will continue to contribute to the uniqueness of this intersection.

Salman:

I asked one pertinent, troubling query. Name ONE institution that is intact, unaligned and with integrity.

In turn you ask several:

[...Haven`t we tried all what was under the sun ranging from feudals to politicians, bureaucracy to the army? ...]

[...Why can`t we effect a change? Failure of institutions? But it`s the people who run, represent and ruin these institutions. How can people who have been saddled by history and blinded by dichotomous views of life cawl out of the indecision and uncertainty that now accentuates their lives?...]

Now try and seek answers.

I agree fully when you say. “ Flaunting a gun, staging protests and killing needs no education, just arousing of hatred and deficiencies in already decaying and decadent souls.”

But I disagree when you say, “ Giving suave analysis and pointing out the wrongs is easy but when it mattered these expatriates went away! Wailing and whining spectators now who couldn`t face the heat! Those who choose to stay here, give and instill them with hope rather than burdening and encumbering the younger lot more and more!”

I don’t want to shift the focus. Perhaps we can discuss this another time? Suffice it to say for now the good and the bad exist everywhere.

regards,

temporal

Another old ``Leftist`` does Lahore and Basant Justice in The News International (Opinion) today.
There is hope ....


You can`t keep Lahore down

By Kamran Shafi

Basant this year, or as nervous government officials prefer to call it, The Spring Festival, has been a momentous event. What utter fun it was: Lahore looked quite spectacular (and this from an ex-Lahori who was quite disgusted with the way the Mafia treated this gentle city during the time that they were demolishing its beautiful trees and monuments to build roads, is quite something); the weather was absolutely divine; and there was a tangible feeling of goodwill across the city. It was great to once again go into the inner city of Lahore and to see the kindness of the real Lahori, his helpful attitude towards visitors, and his generosity of spirit.

There was so much one did not see, having barely had time to go to two Basant functions, before it was time to head back to dreary old Islamabad, the Beautiful. There was a food mela in the Race Course Ground, among other events, thronged by people in festive spirit; the Pakistan Monument grounds were brimming; and there were half a million Lahoris on their roof-tops flying their kites, cries of Bo Kata, Haa Bo echoing all around. It was wonderful.

Standing atop the ever-smiling Ejaz Mirza`s house where my best pal, Saadi, hosted a Basant party - just off the Food Street and seeing the mass of humanity quite busily having fun, I thought back to the past two weeks - the legal challenges to Basant, the religious sabre-rattling, the exhortations not to observe a `Hindu` festival. I thought back to the time that my uncle Mazhar Ali Khan lived on the Nicholson Road, and of how we younger cousins would look on with awe as Tariq Ali (yes, the very same Tariq Ali) flew his kites like a master; of how he would go to the very edge of the building to shout his Bos. Quite often, the neighbours would get worried that one of us would fall off the roof and telephone Uncle Mazhar, then editor of the Pakistan Times, who would hurry home in his Vauxhall motorcar to scold us off the parapets.

This must be 1954 or thereabouts - a time when this country of ours was a (sorry, but Daddy George Bush`s speech-writer had it right) ``kinder, gentler place.`` While flying kites was not considered a threat to Islam in those days, neither did the members of one Muslim religious sect kill members of another Muslim sect. Well, come to think of it, one ethnic group did not target another and vice versa either; people did not threaten to declare independence just because their own peculiar dogma was not being thrust down other throats; politicians did not feel the need to be protected from their own people by weapon-wielding thugs; and the campuses were free of guns.

Pakistan, all in all, was a quite wonderful place, despite its kites! I might add in passing that kite-flying was not a nuisance to others in those days, for example, because no one used metal wires to make their kites more `lethal`, and which today trip electric power several times every minute which not only badly affects household electrical implements, it also affects power supply in critical places such as hospitals. Perhaps the government can make stringent laws banning the manufacture and sale of metallic kite-flying wire.

It is good, however, that the government has officially recognised the Spring Festival - if wealthy Dubai and Singapore can put up grand shows to entice tourists to spend their dollars in shopping festivals in those unattractive countries - horrible weather, no natural beauty (or just three square miles of it, in some controlled environment) why can we not do the same (starved as we are of precious foreign exchange) with the many jewels we have in this country? Why can Lahore not have several festivals a year? And Multan, and Sehwan, and Bhit Shah, and Chiniot, and Peshawar? And Taxila?

Importantly, there are lots of talented Pakistanis with lots of good ideas - why can the government not go into public-private partnerships with them? The Rafi Peer Theatre is a good beginning - they have done so well by putting up puppet festivals over the years, which have been well covered in the international media, giving this country a better face than the one we usually present to the world.

Whilst this year they are reportedly putting on a Sufi music festival and bringing in The Gypsy Kings, a hugely successful music group make no mistake, there are budding musicians within the country who should get all the support the government can give them. A band recently profiled in the press is The Mekaal Hasan Band, which by all accounts is doing excellent work, even composing their own music. There have to be other artists too - we only have to know where to look, and to understand that a country devoid of music is a most unattractive country. Colonel Tressler should look hard at this matter.

And now for a bit on the decree of the killjoys who have ordained that it is `unIslamic` to celebrate Basant. Might I say that Pakistan is part of the subcontinent. And that, therefore, the festivals of the subcontinent, specially those which had nothing to do with the religions of the subcontinent, were always celebrated by all of its people. To illustrate my point, may I ask if we Muslims celebrate Holi? Or if the Sikhs and the Hindus celebrate Eid? Basant was/is simply a festival which celebrates the coming of Spring, the celebration of rebirth, of growth. Indeed, the celebration of the passing of dreary old winter. Might I also say that no matter how hard anyone tries (as General Zia did) this country can never become a part of the Middle East, if only because its culture; its history; and yes, its geographical location precludes that. No matter how hard anyone tries, Pakistan will always be part and parcel of the subcontinent.

A word about the ongoing conservation work in Lahore, particularly on The Mall. It is wonderful to see the Ferozesons building, the Shezan Continental building and the Ganga Ram building being brought into their original architectural shape. This is great, and about time, because all grand cities remain grand only if their architectural history is preserved. Kudos to those behind this good work which should be extended to other beauties like the Shahdin building. Which brings me to make a request of the honourable chief justice of the Lahore High Court: Please, your lordship, do this city a favour by ordering the immediate demolition of the ugly structure constructed just inside the GPO gate of the courts. And please, sir, order that the verandahs of the courts building facing the Bar Room, and which have been enclosed, are opened up again. The Lahore High Court building is possibly the most beautiful building in the country - it should remain so - and it is within your powers to see that it does.

The author is a former diplomat and was press secretary of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto

Harpreet: I wish I had better writing skills and could share all that is burried inside me as a result of having born, grown up and lived my youth...right on the `great divide`. May be I will write my experiences someday. Thanks.

Gymno sahib, we all have our mullahs..inside. I pray they stay inside and never comeout:) because when they come out it is time to stay inside for rest of us:)

About Holy city status, do you know what other cities have been given this status in India?

The situation that I described exists only couple of dozen places along the Punjab border where villages are in close proximity.

An article by the great Ayaz Amir of Dawn about these Pakistani doom-mongers:

``A foreign writer has only to convey an apocalyptic vision of Pakistan [...] for serious-minded Pakistanis to quote and circulate his darkest thoughts. Any fly-by-night journalist has to visit Dar-ul-Aloom Haqqania in Akora Khattak (where Maulana Samiul Haq preaches the true word) or interview Hafiz Muhammad Saeed of Lashkar-i-Taiba, who has some strange ideas about jehad, for the cane-chair liberati to bemoan Pakistan`s negative image in the West and the dangers posed by fundamentalism.

Pakistanis have to be among the most impressionable people on the planet. And with about the lowest self-esteem. Forget ideas, they borrow even their fears and prejudices from abroad.``

--

http://www.dawn.com/weekly/ayaz/20001013.htm

The nation and its redeemers

By Ayaz Amir

LONG after General Musharraf departs from the scene of his triumphs, and long after the heroes and malcontents of this hour have

sped on their journey, Pakistan will still be around. The waters of the Indus will still keep flowing to the sea.

Why this declaration of faith? Because while giving vent to its angst - a pastime at which it excels - the Pakistani political class,

and its drawing room followers, do not draw a sharp enough line between the country and the jokers whom a playful Providence

places over its destinies. In lambasting Pakistan`s rulers and calling attention to their follies, which is the correct thing to do,

unwitting strength is lent to the sentiment that, somehow, the country itself is a doomed enterprise: fated to suffer a succession of

eclipses until, consumed by its own fire, it goes off into the great void like a collapsing star.

A free press and military rule, an inflammable combination, have given a fillip to doomsday scenarios. To wit, there is a mad rush for

American visas. Money is being sent abroad in huge quantities. The country is being denuded of its best brains. (This last a

wonderful thought: what have the best brains been up to for these past 53 years?)

A foreign writer has only to convey an apocalyptic vision of Pakistan - one Robert Kaplan being the latest prophet in this series -

for serious-minded Pakistanis to quote and circulate his darkest thoughts. Any fly-by-night journalist has to visit Dar-ul-Aloom

Haqqania in Akora Khattak (where Maulana Samiul Haq preaches the true word) or interview Hafiz Muhammad Saeed of

Lashkar-i-Taiba, who has some strange ideas about jehad, for the cane-chair liberati to bemoan Pakistan`s negative image in the

West and the dangers posed by fundamentalism.

Pakistanis have to be among the most impressionable people on the planet. And with about the lowest self-esteem. Forget ideas,

they borrow even their fears and prejudices from abroad. When the demon-gods of the IMF and the World Bank laid down the

advantages of the trickle-down theory of wealth, development economists in Pakistan became this theory`s most ardent

advocates. When the winds shifted, we shifted with them.

Now that globalization is the rage, the economic and social tribe in Pakistan has taken to the newest cliches with a vengeance. A

few years ago no such animal as `civil society` existed. Nor such a word as `governance`. Since their discovery at the hands of

western ideologues, anyone in Pakistan able at a pinch to look solemn and knowing is fearless, and indiscriminate, in deploying the

same concepts. In other countries fast food is just that: junk food. With us a visit to McDonald`s or that unmentionable Colonel

becomes high cuisine for the family.

Given our impressionable nature, small wonder if negative stereotypes too prove infectious. If fundamentalism is the new

swear-word and is directed at us, then we surely stand in danger of its malign influence. If others say we are on the verge of being

a failed state, the currency of despair finds ready users, and a receptive market, within the country.

A nation prey to such despondency, and beset by such fears, is already half defeated. In 1940 France surrendered to Germany

later. The will to fight it lost first. What was Churchill`s achievement? Even when Britain`s back was to the wall and the continent

under Germany`s heel, every word he spoke breathed defiance. Pakistan of course is engaged in no mortal combat. Still, when

bewailing the country`s future has become prime national pastime, it pays to remember two things: (1) that in a situation such as

ours the line between intellectualism and defeatism is often a thin one; and (2) that defeatism of the spirit saps a nation`s morale,

robbing it of the last vestiges of self-esteem.

What is the principal item of our moaning? That our affairs are in a mess, which they have been for a long time, and that once again,

for our sins, we are having to endure the ravages of military rule. Fine. Military rule is no answer to anything. We know this from

experience. It should therefore be opposed. But who is doing any opposing?

The political scene presents the aspect of a graveyard. Activism of any kind is a dead thing. Those doing the most criticising will not

put their Scotch highballs (the most powerful aid to the higher criticism) at risk for the sake of their convictions. Which is better,

activism or drawing room chatter? Activism gives tone and strength to the temper of a people. Empty moaning is enervating and a

form of escapism. It destroys the spirit.

As for the standard-bearers of democracy, Benazir and Nawaz Sharif, they have turned in extremis to newspaper writing: Benazir

regularly and the Wonder of Raiwind for the first time on the anniversary of his ouster (in an article titled `Bear Witness, My

countrymen`). Whether for his other sins Sharif deserves any punishment or not, for the syntax and garbled thought of this article (at

least in its English translation) he deserves a stint in purgatory. Benazir, too, for the self-righteousness with which her articles are

replete.

But the point to note is that the buffoons and charlatans with which the history of Pakistan is littered do not make up the totality of

Pakistan. Benazir, Nawaz Sharif and Musharraf are not Pakistan. Wondering at the comic turns provided by our various leaders

should be no excuse to doubt the viability or strength of the country.

When the Colonels seized power in Greece (1967) they were opposed, often at great risk, by many Greeks but even the fiercest

opponents of military rule, even as they suffered at the hands of the junta, did not despair of Greece. The Pinochet dictatorship in

Chile was more tyrannical than anything we have known in Pakistan. But even at the height of its repression, Chileans opposed to it

did not give up on their country. And look at Chile today: a country which has regained its vibrancy (in part, admittedly, because of

the harsh economic medicine administered by Pinochet).

So what reason for Pakistan`s despair? Is ours such a flimsy enterprise that a statement by Altaf Hussain in London (in which he

questioned the genesis of Pakistan) should send shivers down the national spine? We have had nationalist waves in the smaller

provinces before but with time and economic integration they lost their force and were absorbed into the national mainstream. Altaf

Hussain`s is not the cry of a wounded messiah but the bleak utterances of a fuehrer who got it wrong and led his community up a

blind alley. Certainly, what he says should be considered carefully. But none of it should be reason to take fright.

Does this amount to taking refuge in complacency? No. It means striking a balance between complacency and a morbid

preoccupation with the darker side of things. The Soviet Union had Stalin, too much control, and then it had Gorbachev, too little

control. A balance between these two extremes it could not strike thus ensuring the crackup of a mighty empire. In Pakistan for a

long time we have been knights of myth and fantasy. Now under military rule (a paradox indeed) we are testing the limits of

glasnost and, in the process, turning the expression of hopelessness and despair into an art form.

But no matter. Like so much else before, this too will pass, leaving some benefits in its wake. A year ago it was not the fashion to

criticise the army by name. Or the judiciary for that matter. Now both these holy cows stand stripped of their invulnerability. Our

two new columnists, Benazir and Nawaz Sharif, already stand discredited before the bar of public opinion. When democracy comes

again, as it must sooner or later, there will be these many less shibboleths to conquer. So even as we keep up the moaning over our

Scotch highballs, fairness demands that we also count our blessings.

Re: Aneequa;s diatribe on expatriates...

Here is what i had to write on an earlier debate to a Maulana who goes by the name of Tahir-Ul-Qadri, who had accused us, the expatriates of pretty much the same stuff that this bibi is tending to do;blindfolds on, as usual, from the comfort of her high horse in a posh suburb of Pakistan.(Yes yes, speculation). I was living in Norway at the time.

Maulana Sahib,

You accuse us as ``people who have left their homes``, what concern is it of ours to see If Pakistan survives or perishes. Well, pardon me for saying, but thats where you are out of your depth, Sir. Accusing us of being armchair visionaries maybe partially right, but without vision nothing gets accomplished. Chaudry Rehmat Ali had a vision, for without it you would still be a maulana sahib in Hindu-majority India. Have you perhaps possibly considered some of us did go back to Pakistan after studying abroad to equip ourselves with the latest information on new technologies, vibrance and energies ready to put to good use to alleviate the sickness within Pakistan. But it turned out we were not required there, we were told not to produce foreign degrees as proofs of our intellect, ability, qualifications, instaed we were asked where were we born? In Punjab or Sind, What language did we speak at home? Urdu, punjabi, sindhi, baluchi. What did our parents do? Who does my father know in higher up places? Can he get the interviewer`s nephew, neice, sone, daughter, brother-in-law suitable employment here or abroad via recommendations, what recommendations i had.... not educational ofcourse.

Then you get on your high horse, and look down on us little people, who left the country not of their free will, but as an economic necessity. Still its us the so called sons who forgot their land, who send valuable foreign exchange regularly back to give this sick land the injection addiction it has so become used to in order to merely keep breathing.Its the pakistanis abroad who help out in whatever capacity, albeit not on a grand scale, but nevertheless to increase foreign reserves, without which, the country would have been sold to the highest bidder decades ago, except now even the ``World Auctioneers``(IMF) hesitate to put a price on the net value of this country you call it your own. As it stands it is perhaps more valuable in parts than the total of all its parts. Its called hostile takeover, buy it and break it and make money from its parts but i digress.

Maulana sahib, One does not want to leave ones country if the country has what one needs to progress and survive. Take case of Norway where i am currently living. It has a healthy infrastructure, primarily due to the 2 million barrels per day of oil, everybody is happy, nobody wants to go outside and work, as the norwegians are fortunate enough to get much from life while at home. Its altogether different for third world countries like ours who are living on borrowed times from the IMF. Till such time as we hit mentionable natural reserves in excess of 1 million barrels per day, we can not justify all staying back and dying of lack of creative and satisfying jobs to do. I do not want to be the frog at the bottom of a water well thinking this is the world, here. i wanted to jump out of the stagnant water, to see far away places, and thenc ome back and tell the other resident frogs who thought the well was their world about stories from distant lands, an encourgae them to change their own destinies.

Perhaps, i am very charged on this issue, but this does rock my nerve to hear sentiments like the ones maulana sahib mentioned time and again. we, who are living abroad, are looked upon as traitors and that we dont give a damn, when indeed its perhaps the people abroad who miss this wonderful land and are deeply hurt to see it going as a lost cause and want to brain-wave and try to come up with schemes to better the system and somehow make it come out of the maelstrom it is currently heading into.U want proof of that. Just visit any customs office at the airports and see how much respect these hard toiling sons of the land get on return to their sohni dharti. OK the educated are treated a bit better, but u should check out the way the poor pathans from the gulf countries are treated, and these poor pathans labour in the hottest of climates 50 Degc in the shade watering the emirates to make it greener for the golfers from the world to unite. These pathans too send in foreign exchange and yet they are treated as if they are robbers....

I still visit my country regularly, and am continuosly disappointed to see no change in the mentality, perception, and tolerance of the people. Indeed not much can be improved in a country which has an abysmal educational record, along with various other records of intolerance and such as the ones maulana sahib has mentioned.

I will not say i am a proud Pakistani, for we have little to be proud about, except we are still here on the map as an independent country. thats our biggest achievement so far, in fifty years. amazing fact indeed. But i have al ot of regard for my homeland, and sitting here i feel i can do lot more good for my country, if even in terms of articles like the one under attack, or the mere matter of economics, the hard earned green paperbacks flowing back in, than to be in Pakistan and sitting on my backside, and writing articles. For then i might not even had enough to provide two meals a day for my family let alone the time to write about the plight of the middle class Pakistanis and even then certainly not on this expensive medium.

Maslows hierarchy Model of motivation clearly shows that in order for humans to achieve something in life they have to have at the bottom rung of needs, basic requirements such as air, water, food. The next step is the emotional fulfilment arena, whereby the need for love and recognition comes in, and its on the third rung, the ability to be all that one can be comes into the picture. Take away air water food, and the would be aspiring achiever dies. take away the emotional contacts and the guy loses psychological perspective on life. So if Pakistan does not provide me with a job to provide food, an essential factor for survival or the security to my family, i am of no use to Pakistan, as i am going to be a mere casualty in the millions of casulaties we have every year.

I apologise for the lengthy response, but i felt i had to get it all off my chest at least once so that i am not called a traitor any more than Mohd feeqa (average Joe) from Lahore.

Sincerely,

Asim

Jagdeep,

I lived in Punjab from 85 to 88. I don`t remember loudspeakers, but that may be a laspe in my memory, or may be because I lived in a mostly hindu town, Hoshiarpur. This loudspearker thing may be new, since in left India or I simply don`t remember. Oh well....they can do what ever they want, I can`t be subjected to now.

#30 Aneeqa@dr.com

``In denial, sels-serving, apologistic, self-appeasing, propitiating and

lacking miserably in even a modicum of brilliant analysis, these

L.Bs think that by repetitively and untiringly adduceing tiring, and

malodorous cliches, they can absolve themselves of the ultimate

social sin of having `runned away` from their own country; a country

which, if they had the minimum of intelligence to pass as normal,

would not have been as it is today had they still been here, and

showed commitmentment and dedication to it. ``

Malodorous cliches - like what, the part quoted?

FYI: An Interesting talk by ``our`` Ambassador to US

``The Future of Security in South Asia: A Pakistani Perspective``

Her ``Excellency`` Dr. Maleeha Lodhi

Ambassador of Pakistan to the United States

Wednesday, February 28, 5:30pm to 6:30pm

Bechtel Conference Center

First Floor, Encina Hall

Stanford University

Dr. Maleeha Lodhi was Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States from 1994-1997 and again from 1999 until the present. She has had a prolific career as a journalist editing two of Pakistan’s major English daily newspapers, and is the author of Pakistan`s Encounter with Democracy and The External Challenge. She was the first woman in Asia to be the editor of a daily paper. In 1994, she was named by the New York Times to be one of the 100 global pacesetters or young leaders who would help define the next century.

Co-sponsored by the Commonwealth Club and Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Cooperation.

urstruly:#40

The turds in tweeds have left a stink which can only be removed by attacking them at their roots--the twinkle-twinkle `education` system.

Only if they had the blessing of getting an education the Islamic way.They may not have found a job as a professor(HA HA,what pride!) but at least they would`ve learned something.

These Ba Ba Blacksheep are bleating at a higher pitch because they can feel the presence of the sniffing lions nearby.Even their shepherds will not find safe haven anymore.

The low class universities of oxford/cambridge & harvard will soon be archived in their dark ages.

It won`t be long.

____________________________________

wassalaam.

Urstruly # 39

{``Could someone please tell me one good reason why I should trust the future of my country and the coming generations with liberals?``}

No, there is no good reason.

You should rather keep on trusting the maulanas till our country outshines Afghanistan.

Urstruly #39

It is the same tactic Jamt-e-Islami has been using in Pakistan to divert the issue.

Why majority of Pakistanis are living in poverty and illiteracy. Answer is because they are away from Islam. Now if that is the criteria why the other countries are developing who have no Islam.

Any way you have pointed to four points to which Liberals are allergic. (If you mean by liberal thinking person then you are right)

Maulana Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto a champion of Islam put the foundation of at least three of the four policies when all the liberals like Mian Tufail, Ghafur Ahmed were busy raping the democracy in Pakistan.

Pakistan`s Nuclear policy as is well known is Maulana Bhutto`s achievement. If you are unsure ask the Mohajir Qadeer Khan. He will tell you why his name was smeared during the Punjab`s son regime.

Pakistan China policy and Afghanistan policy is also a brain child of Maulana Bhutto. In fact as is mentioned in this article liberal Mawdoodi even proclaimed Jihad in Kashmir as un Islamic.

So I agree with you liberals like Mowdudi, Tufail Ahmed etc have been against the ideal of progressive Pakistan from very beginning and it were Mullahs like Haji Bhutto, Hafiz Adib-ul-Hasan rizvi etc who are doing something.

And of course you are also included in the category of people who know what to do with Pakistanis. ``Zara Islam Ka Danda To Dena In Ko`` ``Allah Mian a.k.a Hukomat Ke Khilaaf Bolte Hain`` ``Bare Bahadur Bante Hain. Hamen Dekho Naslein Ghulami Mein Guzaar Din. Yeh Kaise Hukumranon Ke Mun Lagte Hain``.

``Jub Hum Islam Ka Danda Pura Ander Le Saktein Hein To Doosre Kiyun Nahin``